CRAFT GUILDS AND JOURNEYMEN ASSOCIATIONS: Early Roots of Fraternal Orders prior to the 1700's

The origin of fraternity, as a principle, is as old as humankind. Humans
always have that natural desire to associate with each other for a common
purpose – either for social, philosophical, political, religious, charitable,
mutual-benefit, or business purposes. Fraternities or so-called brotherhoods
existed since the early civilizations - first among sworn kinsmen,
Roman collegias, Orders of Knighthood, craft guilds, box clubs and
fraternal lodges. Although ordinary men did not yet have a recognized “right to
association” when absolute monarchy ruled the world, fraternity as an idea
existed in so-called ‘secret societies’ or ‘secret brotherhoods’- where
the working class, middle-class and even some aristocrats fraternized with each
other and practiced early democracy. Early English fraternal orders or friendly
societies, such as Freemasons, Odd Fellows and Free Gardeners, appear to have
evolved or inherited ideas from these early forms of fraternities.

Craft Guilds

A medieval Master Baker and his Apprentice

Trade
guilds, also called as craft guilds, are an association
of artisans or merchants who oversee the practice of their
trade in a particular town. These guilds were sworn brotherhoods that
had binding oaths to support one another in times of adversity and back one
another in trade ventures alongside with their philosophical and ceremonial
role. Meetings involved proper decorum and wearing of regalia such as chains of
office, special robes and so on. They have
elaborate initiation ceremonies in which apprentices who join go through a
step-by-step “initiatory rites” intended to teach them the mysteries and secrets
of the trade, moral principles, and to ascend them into hierarchy within the
association – from apprentice, fellow craft and Master of the craft.

Traditionally, these guilds provided material and
financial aid to their members in times of sickness, economic distress or in finding
employment when out of work. When a member could not obtain work in his town,
he can travel to the next town and ask assistance from fellow members. Noting
that there were no telephones at that time and mode of communication was still
very slow, the brotherhoods used secret handgrips, symbols and passwords as
proof of membership so that a member could avail food or financial assistance
from the same Guild located in the next town.

The roots of the Order of Free Gardenerscan be traced back in 1345 (14th Century).

Like most English fraternal orders, they also

use a collar and an apron as regalia.

There are still lodges of Free Gardeners

although not as widespread.

Contrary to
popular misconception, numerous historians and scholars today agree that it was not only the Free Masons who protected their trade
secrets from others. During the middle ages, other craftsmen too formed their
own trade fraternities commonly known as "craft guilds" and “journeymen
associations”. In fact, records in England show that there were hundreds of trade-based fraternities in
London prior to the 17th Century. Here are some few examples:

Fraternity
of Butchers: owned a meeting Hall as early as 975 and has charters dating
1605 and 1637.

Fraternity
of Cooks: first cook’s shop was described in 1170. Thereafter till 1438,
there are reference to the “Masters of the mysteries” of Cooks, Pastelers
and Piebakers. "Mysteries" suggest that they also have mystical
initiation rites.

Fraternity
of Fishmongers: possesses twenty-two surviving charters, the first one
granted around 1272.

Fraternity
of Gardeners: a record dating 1345 showed that they petitioned the Lord
Mayor to sell produce in front of the church of St. Austin. They have
charters dated 1605 and 1659 and few other surviving documents in Scotland
too.

Fraternity
of Masons: formed around 1472 to control and regulate stone trade.
Received company charters in 1677, 1688, and 1702 and still exist today as
an operative society. The company's book of accounts mentioned a lodge of
"Acception" of Free Masons in 1620 and 1621. This is the earliest reference to the Masons
accepting people not practicing their trade or craft.

Other trade
fraternities also admitted noblemen and people who did not practice their
trade. The Fraternity of Weavers, for example, originally consisted of members
of the trade when they were founded in 1155 but admitted sons of members and
noblemen. The guild of Merchant Taylors, on the other hand, admitted King
Edward III as a member after they had lent him money to pay his wars. It was
advantageous for guilds to admit noblemen because they would increase the social
prestige of their society.

Journeymen Associations

An ancient journeyman or fellow walks on foot from
one town to another to search for employment in
his trade.

As early as the
1600's, fellows from various crafts and guilds also formed their own
fraternities called "compagnonnages"
or "journeymen associations" to defend their collective interests against the
monopoly of the guild "Masters" and to provide food, lodging, and
guidance for one another when they travel in search for work. As compared with
the guilds, these associations usually consisted of "fellows and some
apprentices" representing numerous crafts or trades - "odd" mixture of trades. They also have
an elaborate initiation rite in which a young journeyman who joins the
association will go through a system of degrees intended to test courage and
loyalty and to ascend into hierarchy within the association. It is from these
associations that the roots of Odd Fellowship can be traced. Many of the early
practices of the Order of Odd Fellows bear a much closer resemblance with these journeymen associations than with the craft
guilds.

When King Henry
VIII broke-off from the Roman Catholic Church, he confiscated the properties of
the guilds because he believed they supported the Pope because of their link
with the church. And during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the Statute of
Apprentices was passed which took the responsibility for apprenticeship away
from the guilds. The nature and scope of work was also changing, thus, the role
of the guilds eventually went into decline. This removed an important form of
social and financial support among ordinary workers.

Some of these
guilds and trade societies survived while some had to adapt to changing times and
evolved into fraternal lodges or clubs with a combination of social, moral and
charitable or mutual-benefit functions. By the 1700's, there seems to be a
number of such groups in England. Some lodges of the Masons, for
example, evolved to become the Free and Accepted
Masons. Several lodges under the Guild of Gardeners eventually evolved to become the Order of Free Gardeners. Soon, other fraternal lodges and clubs with a
guild-like name such as the United Order of Cabinet Makers and the Order of Odd Fellows, also came into the picture.

In the book,Discovering London's Guilds and Liveries, historian John Kennedy Melling mentioned the 'Odd Fellows as an interesting deviation from the London guild model'. The author is inclined to believe that the early Odd Fellows evolved from the journeymen associations composed of fellows from different trades.

Numerous Odd Fellows' tokens dating back 1795 survives today. Above shows on obverse the
head of King George III’s entwined with a head of an ass or donkey. In reverse
shows a common man being harassed by an aristocrat and the text “British
Liberty Displayed”. This suggests radical protest by the Odd
Fellows against government regulations aimed at suppressing fraternal orders,
friendly societies and trade unions during the
late 18th Century which was indeed a violation of people’s
right to association if based on laws of today.

The year 1700's
in England was actually full of Lodge-based activities and social clubs until a
series of political shocks panicked the English government. The French
Revolution was greeted with great approval by many Englishmen of radical
thinking that many joined the London Corresponding Society and so-called
"Jacobin clubs" to promote revolution against the English monarchy.
As a response, the English government passed several laws that made many
fraternal orders, friendly societies, trade unions and social clubs illegal
such as the Unlawful Oaths Act of 1797 and Unlawful Societies Act of 1799. The
Freemasons were lucky because they were exempted from this ban through lobbying
with royal dukes and aristocrats who were members. All other fraternal orders,
friendly societies, social clubs and trade unions had to intentionally destroy
many of their early records to avoid identification and arrest. This is one of
the reasons very few of the early records of other fraternal orders survived
today.

With technological advances, information
and historical artifacts about the early history of fraternal orders had become
more accessible. This means that fraternal history, as claimed and written in
the past, may need to be re-written in the present century. Three English
fraternal orders with historical links from craft guilds and journeymen
associations are good topics for further research study:

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About Me

The researcher/writer is an advocate of preserving fraternities and reformation to change the negative public image of fraternities worldwide. He finished his Associate in Health Science Education in 2007; Bachelor of Science in Psychology with Certificate in Human Resource Management and Certificate in Women’s Studies in 2010; and Master of Arts in Industrial/Organizational Psychology in 2013 at Silliman University. He is currently studying Law (Juris Doctor) at the University of San Carlos in Cebu, Philippines.
He has presented research studies in several regional, national and international research conferences. The first was entitled, “Relationship between Hypermasculinity and Attitudes toward Hazing among Fraternity Members” in 2009. His latest research work was entitled, “Generational Differences in Work Values across Generations”, presented at the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii in Hawaii, U.S.A., on February 2014. He spent three years traveling around the United States and Canada (2012-2015) researching and reading volumes of journals about fraternities and fraternal orders.